Mirrorlabs: Flash-based Skin Creator For Fashionistas

Veteran fashionista Celebrity Trollop of Second Style is extra excited over Mirrorlabs, a Flash application created by Delaney Whippet that lets you create custom Second Life skins on the web, which you can then import into SL.  The program uses Eloh Elliot’s BSD-licensed skins as a display template, so you can check out your design's progress in real time.  Ms. Trollop has the full hands-on review here.

Comments

[Ann Otoole]

These skins will cost you L$500 each plus the L$30 to upload the tga files.

Or you can download the skin psd files free from Eloh's website:
http://eloheliot.blogspot.com/2007/12/my-psds-let-me-show-u-them.html

And modify them if you want to sell them. (Selling unmodified Eloh skins is a no-no)

The flash ui for a template construction kit is an interesting concept though. Especially if we ever do really have web browsers on a prim.

I think it would be better if they made the skins and makeups themselves instead of using Eloh skins if they want to be selling them. Not really interested in the whatsit type open source license, etc argument. If they really want this idea to blossom they will need fantasy and goth skin options, several hundred makeup combos (eye makeup and lipstick) as well as hundreds of tattoos, body hair options, various skin details such as belly buttons and other important things. All the things that make skin costs justified. Charging the same price points for a free psd file based template generated skin? Hmmm...

Oh yea and decent male skins might make a really big difference. The Eloh male skin is OK for androgynous avatars but lacks Testosterone for serious male avatars. But those skin files are not free are they?

I think Mirrorlabs needs to hook up with Major SL skin artists for licensing source art instead of Eloh's free psd files. It is a great idea. And obviously a lot of work involved. Add a custom viewer client that actually creates the skins in world using a bot and the skins are delivered ready to wear and it would be serious wow factor.

[Ari Blackthorne]

I think it's a great idea and at least it's not a complete and total "freebie".

I'm a professional media artist in real life and I know the work that goes into a lot of the texture creations in Second Life, including skin. Frankly, anything more than L$500 for 95% of what's there in-world or *maybe* L$1000 for the so-called "best of the best" is pushing it.

Not because of the initial wrok, but because once the work is done, all the money made is residual on work already done.

@Ann: I disagree. The skinners (as I call them, meaning skin creators) are already fearful of the open source skins. They should be. They've been over-charging for skins ever since the industry matured (I'll call it mid-2007.)

Obviously, this is my own perspective and I only speak for myself. ;)

[gillian tunney / delaney whippet]

Hey everyone, I used Eloh's Skins to demo a concept rather than to try and sell the actual skins themselves. Aside from making some eyeshadows and blush and stuff I don't think i can make a skin to save my life, nor do i have any intention of doing that. Mirrorlabs is an experiment in actual textures from SL on the avatar model in flash, and manipulating bitmap textures on the fly. This is an attempt to experimenting/exploring new capabilities of flash/ actionscript3 and combining it with sl and automation in content creation. The L$500 pricetag for an open source skin is my way of gauging interest in this type of tool itself, and practicing my LSL/php with the kiosk system. Ultimately i am interested in allowing private skinners to use this tool to allow customers to customize skins , and reduce the insanely complicated overhead ( i dont know how they do it! it is such a huge job ) of maintaining hundreds of vendors for a single skin like. ( if i can automate the inworld delivery ) ,and secondly ... allowing people to create skins themselves, using it as sort of a 3d photoshop type deal. ( obviously it has a ways to go - but i am playing with the Picnik API http://www.picnik.com/ to speed that process up )

hey, is it a bit similar to the one Soda has - Soda’s is more of a flash order form for custom, high quality skins that are original and created by hand. I was experimenting with manipulating textures on the avatar mesh around the same time Soda Skin Designer came out ( http://www.doomandjune.com/microphage/?p=116 ) so this is an extension of that project.

[gillian tunney / delaney whippet]

i am an idiot - the last paragraph is not supposed to be in there ( starting with "hey, is it a bit similar to the one..", that is from a different comment i made on the Second Style blog, i was referencing it via cut and paste, and it is not related to this posting. SORRY!

:)